LIONS legend Martin Johnson has added his weight to the bandwagon touting Alun Wyn Jones as a potential captain for this summer's tour of Australia.
Jones skippered the Ospreys to the Pro12 title last season, has 70 Wales caps and featured in all three Lions Tests against South Africa in 2009.
A two-time Lions skipper and a World Cup winner, former England lock Johnson said of the ex-Swansea man: "I hear a lot of good things about him.
"He's played a lot of games, he's done it, he has been out there before with the Lions in '09, so I think he's in the frame."
Jones is one of four probable Welsh captaincy candidates the Lions are likely to consider, with Ryan Jones, Sam Warburton and Gethin Jenkins also set to be on Warren Gatland's radar.
Shane Williams has joined the lobby backing Alun Wyn Jones, saying: "He's a dead cert to be starting, a dead cert to be going, a dead cert starter in the first Test."
Johnson led the Lions for the first time on their successful tour to South Africa in 1997.
"I was in a pretty similar situation in 1997 [as Jones]," he told the BBC. "Phil de Glanville was England captain and I'd only captained my club about 15 times.
"The Lions captaincy has this big aura about it and is a great thing to do, to do well. But ultimately I would rather just play, and win a series, than be captain in a losing series.
"Everyone overplays the captaincy thing. Whoever gets the job will need the support of the other guys around him.
"[Former Wales captain] Sam Warburton wasn't even in the Welsh team for a while [after being injured early in the Six Nations] but he handled himself pretty well in a tricky situation and came back and played well."
Jones skippered the Ospreys to the Pro12 title last season, has 70 Wales caps and featured in all three Lions Tests against South Africa in 2009.
A two-time Lions skipper and a World Cup winner, former England lock Johnson said of the ex-Swansea man: "I hear a lot of good things about him.
"He's played a lot of games, he's done it, he has been out there before with the Lions in '09, so I think he's in the frame."
Jones is one of four probable Welsh captaincy candidates the Lions are likely to consider, with Ryan Jones, Sam Warburton and Gethin Jenkins also set to be on Warren Gatland's radar.
Shane Williams has joined the lobby backing Alun Wyn Jones, saying: "He's a dead cert to be starting, a dead cert to be going, a dead cert starter in the first Test."
Johnson led the Lions for the first time on their successful tour to South Africa in 1997.
"I was in a pretty similar situation in 1997 [as Jones]," he told the BBC. "Phil de Glanville was England captain and I'd only captained my club about 15 times.
"The Lions captaincy has this big aura about it and is a great thing to do, to do well. But ultimately I would rather just play, and win a series, than be captain in a losing series.
"Everyone overplays the captaincy thing. Whoever gets the job will need the support of the other guys around him.
"[Former Wales captain] Sam Warburton wasn't even in the Welsh team for a while [after being injured early in the Six Nations] but he handled himself pretty well in a tricky situation and came back and played well."
